Shot Job
by The Specter of Silence
Summary: When a member of the Leverage crew gets shot, how does the rest of the team deal?  rated T for blood and mild language.
1. Chapter 1

**1**

The city lay below her, the people like ants on the sidewalks. Little ants like the ones she used to watch on the playgrounds of so many schools as she hung from the jungle gym, or swing set. Ants like the ones that ran in neat little lines across the street where she first rode a red bicycle. She never hated them, but they were foreign to her. Like the people below her now. The wind whistled in her ears as she fell, but inside, it was like slow motion. The ant-people were drawing near at a snail's pace, not like the quickened wind.

Then all of the sudden it was as if both sides caught up with each other.

The rope went taut and she felt the air harshly leave her lungs. She was slammed her into the window behind her. It could be a person's best friend or their worst enemy, physics. To her, it was usually the first... along with money, but she this time she hadn't taken precautions. This wasn't planned. This wasn't right. Her brain felt fuzzy...like her first night on the antidepressants at "Second Act". She didn't like it. She couldn't think...

The fuzziness was contrasted by a sharp hot metallic feel in her left shoulder. Like a New York subway in the summer. Hot steel. She looked down. Her shirt and harness were wet. She reached one hand up as she dangled above the ant-people and then pulled her palm back. It glinted red in the sunlight. She could hear the crack and pop still ringing in her ears along with people's voices.

Shot. I've been shot. The thought finally pieced itself together.

The fuzziness kept growing more overwhelming, and at the same time the sharpness grew as well. The ringing was wearing off, but the voices only rose.

Parker. Parker. Parker. Parker. It was like being underwater, she thought as she gazed up at the sky. The voices weren't very clear. They were muffled. Or was that her head? Too many voices. Too many voices. They kept going. Parker. Parker. Parker. then as if breaking the surface of water the voices cleared for a second and a thought broke through. Her earpiece. It was her team.

"Parker! What happened, are you okay?" Nate.

"Nate?" she said. Her voice sounded soft and strange to her ears.

"Parker? What happened?" he repeated.

"You okay?" Another voice, Hardison.

"Nate, I think I got shot...I ran...the harness wasn't ready all the way, but I jumped.."

"Parker just hang on, Elliot's almost to the roof, he'll take care of those guys and make sure they don't cut the line. Sophie, she's on the 19th floor with you, hanging outside the third office to the right, I can see her from here. Hardison pull the van around. We need to get Parker out of here guys."

"But ...what about the vase?" Parker heard her own voice say, as if on autopilot.

"Forget about it right now Parker, just try to stay still. Are you bleeding bad?"

"I don't know...Nate...I don't like blood..." Nate's voice, usually commanding and in control softened.

"Hey, Parker, listen, it's going to be ok...we're going to get you out safe...it's going to be ok..." There was a knocking behind her, Parker turned slightly to see Sophie standing there, a crowbar in her hand. Sophie's eyes glanced down at the blood, then back to Parker's face.

"Parker?" her voice was muffled through the glass. "I need you to swing out of the way for a minute. I need to break the window, and I don't want to hurt you." Parker swallowed, her throat felt thick and dry, and nodded. She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and pushed her legs hard against the glass window, sending herself arcing out further over the street and the ant people. She heard a crash and felt herself swinging back toward the window. She opened her eyes just as Sophie's arms caught her and pulled her inside the building. Parker felt light...like her bones suddenly ceased to exist. As Sophie unclipped her harness, her legs gave way and she collapsed into the grifter's waiting arms. As gently as she could Sophie lowered her to the floor.

Parker gave her a lopsided smile.

"Thought I was ….going down to see the ant people...they crawl around down there...I'm ….glad I get to be with you instead Sophie..." Parker slurred as Sophie pressed her hands against the wound. Parker gave a whimper.

"Nate, we need an exit fast. It's bad."

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!"

"Is not that bad..." Parker mumbled as she struggled to keep her eyes open. "cept for all the blood...I don't like blood...blood ….hurts..." She stared at Sophie, who seemed to be moving a million miles an hour compared to her. Sophie's eyes looked frantic.

"Come on Parker. Stay with me ok? Nate, there's no way she's going to be able to walk down, she's lost too much blood. She's fading quick."

"Hardison, leave the van parked out front, you get up to Parker and Sophie, carry Parker down. Elliot, clear the way for them, make sure there's no one else left."

"Mama hold on, I'm coming okay?" Hardison's worried voice came.

Parker gave another lopsided smile at the sound of it.

"Sophie?" there was a chatter to her teeth. "Sophie, can you make sure...you take care of ….Ha…of H….of Bunny...I don't want him to be alone..." Sophie vaguely wondered whether the thief was actually talking about her beloved stuffed rabbit or was really trying to tell her to look after Hardison, but couldn't get out his name. She took one of Parker's hands with a free one of her own.

"Hey now, don't talk like that, you're going to be alright..."

There were sparkles in the air now around Parker. Lasers in fog, shining and flashing all over the place.

"Sophie...what about the lasers?" her voice was feeble. She couldn't let the lasers get Sophie...

"There aren't any lasers Parker. Stay with me now. Come on."

"Don't let them …..." Parker's voice faded out as her eyes closed and her world went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

Sophie gently shook Parker's shoulder.

"Come on Parker, come on." Parker was still breathing, gasping but shallow breaths, and her hand had gone limp in Sophie's. Her small frame was trembling. "Parker, come on, stay with me…wake up."

Sophie realized that she was crying. Parker couldn't die. "Come on Parker! Wake up!" Hardison ran into the room. His hand went to cover his mouth and he took a step back. Sophie knew this was going to be rough on all of them, but especially Hardison.

"Hardison. We need to get her down to the car." Hardison didn't say anything, just kept backing up. He'd never seen Parker hurt. Ever. To the team, to him, Parker was invincible. He'd never seen her with so much as a scraped knee. To see her lying there unconscious, with so much blood…"Hardison!" He still didn't speak. "ALEC. Snap out of it, Parker needs you." Hardison froze, then barely nodded his head. He finally got himself to walk forward and kneel down next to Parker's prone body. "Ok, good Hardison, just pick her up and carry her to the car now." Hardison looked unsure.

"But what if…what if…What if I hurt her?" Sophie put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hardison, she's already been hurt, she just needs you to help her now. Please. It's going to be alright, she just needs help." Hardison nodded and picked up Parker, then followed Sophie as quickly as he could to the elevators.

19 floors later they met Elliot in the lobby. He looked angrier than Sophie had ever seen him. Hardison was trying hard not to cry as he carried Parker to the door. Elliot went ahead of them and punched the doorman to the floor just as he was pulling out a gun. They hustled into the van and Hardison set Parker gently on the ground. Nate looked back from the driver's seat briefly at their thief, cursed, then sped forward.

Elliot had grabbed the first aid kit from a compartment in the van as soon as he had made it into vehicle, while Sophie and Hardison tried to make Parker comfortable, and managed to take off her climbing harness as well. The van hit a large pothole and Parker's eyes opened as she cried out in pain. Her breathing was still ragged but she managed to stay conscious this time. She opened her mouth, but the words were stuck in her throat. Elliot tried to stop her,

"Don't talk Parker, just try and breathe." Elliot leaned over to look at the wound, but Parker tried talking anyways,

"So…Sor…Sorry…" she finally got out.

"Nothing to be sorry for Parker, if anyone's apologizing it should be us…Just lie still now" Sophie said. Elliot finished looking at the wound and half growled half whispered to Sophie.

"It's not a through and through, which means the bullet's still in there. Not good." Parker's eyes were going in and out of focus, the sparkling lasers still present. She turned her head. Hardison smiled slightly through misty eyes.

"Hey mama…You're gonna be fine…"

"…you're …such…such a bad liar." She gasped out, mirroring his slight smile. She coughed and then her eyes rolled upwards again.

"Nate!" Sophie called, then turned back to the thief, "Come on Parker, don't quit on us now."

"Yeah, Yeah, we're pulling into the hospital now." Nate called back. "Hardison please tell me you have ids for us."

Hardison pulled id's from another compartment. "Yeah I got us." Nate screeched the van to a halt and ran around to the back to open the doors.

"Alright guys, we need a cover, Hardison, you stay, file the reports, Elliot stay with him. Sophie and I will go in. You tell us the story through the earbuds. Got it?"

"No way Nate, I'm going in!" Hardison said as Sophie left to call the paramedics over.

"No. Hardison right now you need to make our cover story. Stay here, finish the cover." The paramedics showed up at the back doors of the van, and carefully extracted Parker from it onto the gurney. They rushed away. Sophie followed, with Nate calling over his shoulder.

"Just stay there Hardison. Stay!"

Hardison turned and hit the side of the van in frustration.


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

As Nate rushed behind the gurney, all he kept repeating to himself was "Don't let her die, please don't let her die..."

It was all too close, too familiar and he was probably a little too harsh with Hardison, but he couldn't let him be there if Parker didn't make it…He knew that actually seeing her slip away would haunt Hardison forever, much the way Sam's death still haunted him. So he made him stay outside.

"She's losing a lot of blood, bullet appears to still be lodged above her aorta." One of the doctors was saying as a nurse put a oxygen mask over Parker's face. "She's not breathing…BP's dropping…" Nate looked at Sophie, who was up with them, holding Parker's hand. Finally one of the doctors made her let go and they disappeared through a set of double doors. Sophie stood still in front of the doors. Nate was a few steps behind. After all of the rush and noises and voices of the past few minutes, there was an eerie kind of quiet. He let it wash over him. Then, swallowing dryly, he stepped forward and put a hand on Sophie's shoulder. She turned around with tears in her eyes. She was looking down at her hands. They were covered in blood. Parker's blood.

"Nate? She's going to be alright…right?"

"I don't know, Sophie…I hope so. I sure as hell hope so, or those bastards won't know what's coming to them."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Stay. Who the hell does Nate think I am? Some kind of damn dog? Stay Hardison. Parker's fighting for her life and he has the nerve to tell me to stay and create a cover story. Stay. What's, he mad at me? Mad I couldn't hack the non-existent security cameras to tell the team that those thugs were gonna be there? What? Stay Hardison. Stay…" Hardison was rambling as he typed furiously on the keyboard. "Stay. I'd like to see Sophie in Parker's place and me tell him stay. Man would cut me. Stay." He muttered on as Elliot sat looking out the back of the van. There were blood stains on the carpet.

"Nate's right Hardison." He said quietly when the hacker paused for a breath. Hardison stopped what he was doing.

"What do you mean he was right? She's hurt Elliot. She's hurt really bad and I just wanted to be with her. I wanted to make sure she was ok. I wanted to…"

"Doesn't matter what you wanted to do man. The thing is, right now, the only people that can help Parker are the doctors inside that building. Can you perform surgery, or extract a bullet? Nate made you stay out here because he knows what you CAN do is make sure there's a good cover story, a reason why she's laying in that hospital bed that protects her identity, doesn't implicate her or us in any way, so that way …if she makes it…"

"When." Hardison interrupted. "When she makes it." Elliot nodded.

"When she makes it, she can be safe, we can all be safe. From the authorities and those goons back at the building." He paused as Hardison thought about this. The hacker let out a breath and clenched his fists.

"I know man…I'm just…scared." Elliot nodded again.

"Me too…"


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

Hardison had finished the cover story and relayed it to Sophie and Nate, not a minute too soon, as a policeman had shown up almost immediately after to take their statement. Hardison had kept it simple. They were walking down the street and "Alice White" had been caught in the crossfire of a drive by gang shooting, and then pushed to the ground Nate to get her out of the way. It was vague enough to not get anyone else into trouble, and they were in a sketchy enough area of town for it to quite possibly be true. Sophie and Nate were "Alice's" aunt and uncle, "Jim and Helen Ross" visiting from Wisconsin.

It was the entrance form for the hospital that had surprisingly given them the most trouble. As much time as they spent with Parker they didn't know much about her history, not that she was exactly open with that information. Hardison only had medical records for Parker after age 5, and those were sparse and far between.

After they had filled out all the forms, Nate then suggested that Hardison and Elliot go back to headquarters to review the security camera footage they had, from the lobby and the main hallways, as well as other information they had. Hardison was still upset at not getting to stay in the hospital, but he begrudgingly agreed to go.

And then there was nothing to do but wait.

Waiting killed Nate. He hated it. Well, that was untrue, normally he was quite patient, him and Sophie both, you had to be for the kind of thing they did for a living, but for this sort of thing? They were completely unprepared.

This was agonizingly slow. This was not having any control over the outcome. This was pacing up and down worn carpet. This was sitting in ragged hospital chairs and then getting up again. This was flipping through year old magazines and pretending to give a damn about the fried ochre recipe because the alternative was thinking about what would happen if she didn't make it. This was life and death.

And this was Parker.

Parker they were talking about.

The girl Nate had thought was crazy at first, and now, he knew better. The girl that Sophie had been right about all along, after all, she read people for a living. This was their thief. And the more they thought about losing her, the more they couldn't imagine having the team without her. She was, in many ways, their glue. She was like their daughter for crying out loud. Someone that looked up to Nate and Sophie, someone whose trust they desperately wanted in return. She was practically Elliot's sister, with the way she teased him and annoyed him. And Hardison, well, it was obvious what the thief was to Hardison. Lose Parker and the team ceased to exist.

Nate sat down for the hundredth time and then stood up again. God he wanted a drink. Just something to take the edge off. Sophie was rummaging around in her purse.

"Don't happen to have a flask in there do you?" Nate said as he decided to sit back down.

"No. But I wish I did. I could use some right now too. I was looking for some tissues. I'm barely holding it together here, and I'm afraid to go to the bathroom to get some because what if that doctors come to tell us something…" Nate stood back up again, "Meanwhile, stop sitting and standing, you remind me of Parker on a sugar rush…" But as Sophie looked up from her purse she realized Nate was standing because a doctor was coming towards them, carrying a clipboard.


	5. Chapter 5

**5**

_**(previously)**_

_Sophie was rummaging around in her purse._

"_Don't happen to have a flask in there do you?" Nate said as he decided to sit back down._

"_No. But I wish I did. I could use some right now too. I was looking for some tissues. I'm barely holding it together here, and I'm afraid to go to the bathroom to get some because what if that doctors come to tell us something…" Nate stood back up again, "Meanwhile, stop sitting and standing, you remind me of Parker on a sugar rush…" But as Sophie looked up from her purse she realized Nate was standing because a doctor was coming towards them, carrying a clipboard._

"Mr. and Mrs. Ross?"

"Yes, yes that's us." Sophie stood up now too, "How's Pa…How's Alice." She almost slipped, but recovered quickly. This all must be affecting her more than she thought, almost messing up like that.

"You're her aunt and uncle correct? There's no closer next of kin?" This got Nate worried. Why would they need next of kin?

"Her parents aren't in the picture anymore; we're the closest she has." He said quickly. The doctor nodded.

"Alright, we managed to remove the bullet, but it was harder than we anticipated, because she's got a lot of scar tissue there. She lost a lot of blood. The thing is, nothing in her medical history indicates anything that would have caused that kind of scarring, and so I was wondering if you two knew what had happened?" Nate and Sophie shook their heads. The doctor scribbled on the notebook. "It doesn't really matter, I was just hoping to be able to note it in her file, it would have been nice to know before we went in. Anyways, as I said, we removed the bullet, but I'm afraid Alice isn't out of the woods yet. Because of the loss of blood and the closeness of the wound to the heart, she's in a touchy place. Infection, reinjury if she tries to recover too fast, especially with that scar tissue, and there's always the chance her body won't take to the infusions, but that's rare, I wouldn't expect that." Sophie let out the breath she'd been holding.

"But she's still alive? She's, ok for now?" the doctor gave them a small smile.

"Yes Mrs. Ross. You guys got her here in the nick of time. She's still not conscious yet, we've got her on some pretty heavy sedatives right now. But she's in ICU, one of you can go back and sit with her." Nate and Sophie looked at each other. Nate wanted Sophie to go, and to be honest he expected her to. But instead she said,

"You go, I should go home and change, and there's something of Alice's I need to pick up for her." Sophie pushed him forward a bit. Nate looked back at her with wide stunned eyes and swallowed. She knew he hated hospitals.

"Alice needs you right now. You're as close to a father as she's got." Sophie said truthfully, though it worked for their cover as well. She patted his shoulder encouragingly and he nodded mutely and then followed the doctor through the double doors.

Parker had her own room in the ICU. Nate saw her first through the glass windows. He didn't want to go in. He turned around, ready to leave, this was too much like Sam. He didn't want to see her hurt. But Sophie…Sophie was right, as Sophie usually was. Parker needed him to be there. Even if she was unconscious. She needed him to be there. This wasn't about him. This was about Parker. So Nate took a deep breath, turned around, and entered the room.

She was pale, not that Parker wasn't usually pale, but this was an unnatural pale. And she was so still, which for Parker, was frightening enough in itself. Parker was never this still. He couldn't even remember ever even having seen her sleep. Nate swallowed, wishing for the millionth time in the last hour that Sophie HAD had a flask in her purse and sat down next to Parker's bed. He scooted his chair forward. He reached out, hesitantly, and put his hand over Parker's. It was funny, because neither he nor Parker were really hand-holding-touchy-feely kind of people, but it felt right at the moment. He felt tears come to his eyes, and to try and stop them he started talking,

"Hey, Parker…I know you're unconscious, but they say that…I mean some people say that when you're unconscious, you can still…hear. So if you can hear, I just want you to know that you're going to be ok…or I mean, I hope you'll be ok….Because Sophie would really miss you if you're gone…Elliot might not say it, but he would too, and Hardison, well, you know Hardison, he'd fall apart. He's in love with you like …like…Superman loves Lois Lane. And me…well as for me…uh…I can't lose another kid Parker, not again…so…I really hope you make it…" Nate squeezed Parker's hand, and maybe he was imagining it, but he could have sworn he felt Parker lightly squeeze back.


	6. Chapter 6

**6**

Back at headquarters, Hardison was going over everything again and again. There had to be something he was missing.

_**1 week ago**_

_They had met their client, Jane Rigsby. She seemed sweet, but extremely naïve. Her mother and father had died young, leaving her in the care of her grandmother and great grandmother Clara. Jane had described her great gran as eclectic and vibrant, with the best stories. _

_Which was where the vase came in. _

_It belonged to her great grandmother. The vase had been a gift from a man she'd met in France many years ago, who actually turned out to be the great Auguste Rodin himself. They'd briefly, before Rodin married, been in love, and Rodin had made the vase for her. This would have dated it as one of his earliest works. But the story of the vase and the romance was not known to anyone else, and frankly, other than Clara, no one truly believed the story could be true. And while she was alive, they'd never had the money or the opportunity to have it appraised. After Clara died, no will was recovered, but Clara had always said she wanted her daughter to have it so ownership of the vase passed to Jane's grandmother. And then when Jane's grandmother passed, the vase was given to her. Which would have been fine… had it not been for what came next._

_Jane Rigsby's neighbor's apartment caught fire. And though her apartment was undamaged, she felt the need to hire someone to appraise her possessions. And that's where the trouble started. Jane Rigsby hired the wrong people. Nate chalked it up to inexperience, her trusting nature and her naiveté. The company came, appraised the apartment, and left. Jane said they took some interest in the vase, but the appraiser had quickly declared it a fake. A week later some men showed up at her door and demanded the vase on the grounds that a copy of Clara's will had been found, and she had left the Rodin vase to some wealthy businessman Jane had never heard her grandmother speak of. Then they had sued her for supposedly hiding the real will all along. Clara said that police had come and searched her apartment, finding a copy of the will in Clara's things._

"_Mr. Ford," Clara had said with tearful eyes, "I didn't have that will. They planted it there. My great grandma Clara never knew this man, Charles Widstone, they're claiming is in her will. But they have all of this evidence that they were good friends, discussed art together, that she loved looking through his private gallery of art. But it can't be true. My great grandmother hated private galleries. She always said they were pretentious, and stupid, that art should be in museums, for everyone to enjoy. Mr. Ford, I just want that vase to be donated to a museum, but instead Charles Widstone is planning to auction it, in front of a group of private collectors, for the profit. I can't let that happen, Mr. Ford."_

_Hardison had been there too. Here she was, being sued for everything she was worth, and the girl didn't care about the money, all she wanted was for her great grandmother's wishes to be carried out. _

_**Present**_

Sitting at the computer, Hardison realized he should call Jane. After all, the auction was tonight, and even though they hadn't stolen it yet, they would get it for her, they'd track it down. He dialed her number and waited. But all he got was a pre-recorded message saying the number had been disconnected. Hardison frowned. He hoped that Widstone's men hadn't gone after Jane. He called the burn phone they had given her. Same response. He checked jail logs, nothing. He sent out his web crawlers. Nothing. Now he had a bad feeling. Not about Widstone's men…but about Jane. Something seemed off. He grabbed a still of her off security cam footage for the apartment. Nothing in her background check had set off any alarms, but that was only based on her name, he'd never cross checked her picture against his databases in case she was using an alias. He didn't think he needed to.

But within seconds he got a ping. Exactly what he didn't want. He quickly scanned the contents of the result.

"Shit… Holy shit." He mumbled.

"What?" Elliot growled from the kitchen where he was making a casserole for the team. He cooked when he was anxious. Hardison whipped his head around and Elliot had never seen him look so panicked.

"It was a setup. The whole job." He shook his head, turned back to the screens and started typing furiously. "It was a hit on Parker."


	7. Chapter 7

**7**

_**Previously**_

"_It was a setup. The whole job." He shook his head, turned back to the screens and started typing furiously. "It was a hit on Parker."_

"What do you mean it was a hit?"

"I mean the whole damn thing. Look, I was having trouble reaching Jane Rigsby right? So I did every search, nothing came up, and I got a bad feeling, so I cross checked her picture in the database and that woman ain't Jane Rigsby. She had a damn good cover though, I mean this is high grade work. I never even thought to cross check. It's all my fault, and now Parker might be dying."

"Stop blaming yourself and get to work Hardison, we need as much information as we can get." Elliot snarled, "We don't have time for you to mope." Just as Elliot was about to call Sophie and Nate, Nate's voice came up over the coms.

"Guys, just an update, Parker's out of surgery, still unconscious, but she's still here…" Hardison breathed a sigh of relief but Elliot interrupted Nate.

"Nate, I need you to secure the room, I'll be to the hospital as soon as I can."

"What's going on?" Sophie's voice chimed in.

"It was a setup." Elliot said. "Hardison was rechecking everything and turned over a rock that Jane Rigsby hoped we wouldn't. She's not Jane Rigsby."

"What do you mean not Jane Rigsby?" Nate stood up and closed the blinds to Parker's ICU room and turned his chair so he could see the door better. Hardison let out a sigh.

"Her real name is Jenna King. We never cross checked her picture. But it's who she works for that's the real problem. In the CIA report I'm looking at it says she's an aide to presidential hopeful Derrick Ellsworth."

"Ok, but what does all of that have to do with Parker?" Sophie said.

"Derrick Ellsworth has a dirty little secret. He's done a good job of burying it, but nothing stays hidden from Hardison." The hacker said. "Twenty years ago Derrick Ellsworth was in a car accident."

"So?" Elliot growled.

"So, it wasn't with another car. Ellsworth lost control of his car and accidentally hit a little boy on his bike, and his sister. They were both taken to the hospital, the boy died from injuries sustained almost immediately, and the girl was in critical condition for a day or so, then she was moved to the regular recovery ward, and then her records just stop, it's like she disappeared from the system. And then, get this, a week later their parents, who were watching from the sidewalk when it happened, they were gunned down in a convenience store robbery."

"Sad story but I'm still not seeing the connection Hardison." Elliot said.

"The boy that got hit? The parents that got shot? Their last name was Parker."


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hey guys, thanks for the reviews! Glad you're liking the story! **_

_**Also, sorry if you find spelling or grammatical mistakes in any of these chapters. I usually write them super early in the morning or late at night, whenever I'm not in classes and have time, so I can't guarantee complete accuracy!**_

**8**

"_The boy that got hit? The parents that got shot? Their last name was Parker."_

"So what, you think that the girl that disappeared from the records was Parker? Our Parker?" Sophie said.

"It has to be, based on the all of the information I have here, Katie Parker's records stop with her last check in at the hospital when she was 5 and our Parker's foster care record starts when she's 5. It's too much to be just coincidence. The dad, Ron? He was a journalist, mostly did expose pieces on dirty business deals, corrupt politicians that sort of thing. So what I'm thinking is, Ellsworth worked as an aide for a couple of different people before he started on his own career, looks like at the time of the accident he was working for a senator, uh somebody named Rhett Withers, so what if Mr. Parker uncovered something that was going down with the senator? And Ellsworth was ordered to take care of it. So he threatens the Parkers. But they don't back down."

"So he hits Parker and her brother, but Mr. and Mrs. Parker are still refusing to give up the information he has." Nate continued, seeing what Hardison was getting at.

"And then he eventually ends up killing the Parkers to silence them." Sophie finished. "But what about our Parker? How does she mysteriously end up in foster care with different records?"

Hardison shrugged. "I don't know. Either Ellsworth decided to let her live, or her parents must have figured out some way of doing it to protect her."

"I bet it was her parents, I mean, if everything you're saying is true, that this was a hit, and that all this happened, then it looks like Ellsworth is finally trying to finish the job. Why would he let her live then only to track her down and try to kill her all these years later?" Elliot chimed in.

"It's a lot of speculation, and it's going to be hell to prove, but Hardison, I think you might be on to something. Ellsworth is a shoe in for this election, and if I were him, and I had skeletons like that in my closet, I'd definitely want to be tying up loose ends too. Now, we're going to need to do a lot of digging to make sure we're right on this, but if we are? We're taking them down. Ellsworth, Ms. King, Withers. Nobody cons us, and for sure nobody tries to KILL a member of our team and walks away unscathed."

"What's the plan Nate?" Sophie asked.

"Research, but first, we need to steal ourselves a Parker."


	9. Chapter 9

**9**

"So Katie Parker…" Sophie said. Hardison had gone to pick up her up from her place, and then they were headed to the hospital. Sophie had changed and showered, no trace of Parker's blood on her hands anymore, but she twisted her fingers, as if she could still see it there.

"It's weird thinking of Parker with a first name. But hey, I could still be wrong about all of this."

"Yeah, I suppose so." Sophie said, but they both knew he wasn't. With all they'd seen in the past few years, this wasn't too far of a stretch. "So her father was Ron? What about her brother?"

"Charlie." There was another moment of silence. "She ever talk to you about any of this?"

"Parker talks to me, but not about a lot. She's never opened up about anything in her past. Just more recent stuff, and even that is vague. Oh, Hardison, we need to make a quick stop first. I didn't get a chance to get it before. We need to stop by Parker's place."

"She moved again didn't she?"

"Yeah, I think her newest place is on Market Street."

"Got it." Hardison made a turn. "So what you gonna get? Parker doesn't really like people in her place."

"Oh, I remember. But I think she'll forgive me. I was going to get her rabbit." Hardison gave a small smile.

"Yeah, I think she'd like that. If she woke up and it was there for her." Hardison looked over to see that Sophie was tearing up again. He handed her a box of tissues.

"Thanks."

"Don't worry about it…Hey, we're here. Look, I'll go in with you, take the Parker 2000, you know the girl's got some pretty gnarly locks on the way in." Sophie nodded. Ten minutes later they were back in the van, a worn stuffed rabbit in Sophie's arms. "Alright. We good?" Hardison asked, giving a slight smile.

"Yeah, we should get to the hospital." Sophie said and Hardison revved up the van again. "So her dad was a journalist. What about her mom?"

"Gymnast. Go figure, right? Pretty good one too, made it the Olympics in '72."

"Olympics?" Sophie ground her teeth. "I love Parker and I wouldn't trade her for anyone, but thinking of what she could have had, who she could have been without this bastard doing this…I really hate him Hardison. I want to end him myself."

"You'll have to beat me to it." Hardison frowned and gripped the steering wheel tighter. "When I checked out her foster care files…Ellsworth, Withers…they should both…I don't even know…something worse than bad should happen to them. Her parents, they tried to do the best they could, to keep her safe. They didn't have any other living relatives. They thought she'd be ok in the system…but…" Sophie looked out the window.

"How bad was it?"

"Girl's been through hell and back." Hardison looked at the road ahead. "I've been in the system, but nothing like what she saw…and that's just what's in her file. 80% of what happens never makes it in, kids get scared to tell social workers…that sort of thing. I never looked before. Didn't want to dredge up anything she didn't want to deal with. But it was bad Sophie. Real bad." Sophie put a hand on his shoulder.

"Well she's got a family again. And we're going to make sure that she's ok, and this man pays for what he did to her." Hardison nodded and wiped the back of his hand over his eyes.

"Yeah, ain't no way they're getting away with this. Nobody messes with our thief."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Excuse me, I'm Jess Ross. I'm looking for my cousin. She was brought in here with a gunshot wound. Her name is Alice White. Please, I just need to see her. We're practically sisters." The young brunette with wide naïve eyes said to the nurse at the front desk. The nurse immediately typed the name into the computer.

"Ms. White is out of surgery. She's in stable condition. Would you like me to have someone take you to her?"

"Yes, please, I just want to see my cousin."


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys, sorry this update has taken so long, being a full time student really cuts into my writing time! Parker should be featured more in upcoming chapters, we just have to get there first! Haha, anyways, just wanted to say thanks for the reviews, please keep them coming, love getting them, they help me want to write! Without further ado,

**10**

**Previously**

_"Excuse me, I'm Jess Ross. I'm looking for my cousin. She was brought in here with a gunshot wound. Her name is Alice White. Please, I just need to see her. We're practically sisters." The young brunette with wide naïve eyes said to the nurse at the front desk. The nurse immediately typed the name into the computer._

_"Ms. White is out of surgery. She's in stable condition. Would you like me to have someone take you to her?"_

_"Yes, please, I just want to see my cousin."_

Jenna King followed the nurse down the hallway. She warily looked behind her, but quickly resumed her naïve worried look when the nurse glanced back at her.

"She's going to be ok right?" She asked, furthering her façade.

"She's listed in stable, that's all I know at the moment Ms. Ross, but your father, Alice's uncle is with her, and the doctor should be in shortly."

"My father is here? Oh…" Jenna gritted her teeth slightly, but put on a forced smile. "Good. He's like a father to Alice too. She grew up with me." The nurse nodded, and then put out a hand and showed Jenna the door.

"She's right through there Ms. Ross, and again, the doctor should be in shortly."

"Thanks again." Jenna said. She looked at the room. The shades were drawn. Damn. She hated going into a room blind. She adjusted the strap of her purse, while subtly reaching in and putting a hand on the gun she had hidden there. She looked down and checked for the fifth time that the silencer was in place. Then she glanced at the room again and noticed she could make out silhouettes behind the shades. Someone sitting by a bed, and obviously someone laying in it. She chewed her lip for a moment. She'd have to take out whoever was in the room with the target. She didn't like unnecessary deaths, but what choice did she have?

Ellsworth said he wanted this all to go away. The original job was already botched because the woman had been too quick for her team on the roof. Somehow she had sensed the team closing in around her, stopped what she was working on, and with a small glance back, she had jumped. Jenna didn't care what went wrong. She'd deal with her team's failure later, what she cared about now was results. Finishing it. She was being paid to make sure that Katie Parker disappeared.

Personally, she didn't think this Parker woman would have ever said anything. Told anyone. And Why would she have reason to? She was a child when it had all happened, and she hadn't even known that her brother and parents had been murdered. And if Jenna was being honest, she wasn't even 100% sure that this Parker was the actual Katie Parker. Even though the timelines seemed to match, and the picture she had of Katie Parker looked similar to this woman, there was no indisputable evidence. But orders were orders. Ellsworth was a cautious man. Almost paranoid.

Jenna took a breath, and opened the door. She closed it behind her and held up the gun. The man she'd met with earlier that week turned around. He looked grimly at her.

"Hello Jenna." He said. If Jenna was shocked that he had figured out her identity she didn't let it go.

"Look Mr. Ford, just move away from the bed, and I'll let you walk away." Lies. She walked closer to the bed, and Nate stood up, his hands slightly raised. Jenna aimed the gun at the bed, but for the first time realized there was no one actually in it. Just pillows and rolled up towels.

"What the h—" she was cut short by Eliot who appeared behind her with a tazer. Jenna was on the ground unconscious before she knew what was happening.

"That's for Parker." Eliot growled as he resisted the urge to grab the gun from the ground and shoot her.


	11. Chapter 11

Hey guys, sorry for the delay, school got crazy and then I was dealing with some personal stuff. Hopefully I'll keep up with the updates. Enjoy, and I always love reviews!

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Parker felt heavy. Like she had felt when they had been in Dubai and she had to wear those weighted boots. So heavy. She became aware of herself breathing. And it hurt. Breathing wasn't supposed to hurt. Pain shot through her body, radiating from her chest. She fought to open her eyes. Everything was blurry but she could tell that the room she was in was dimly lit. She tested her right hand and her fingers hit something soft.

Bunny. How? Her brain was too sluggish to comprehend how. She pulled the rabbit closer. She could hear a heart monitor beeping somewhere. Was that her? Or was someone else hurt. She couldn't remember. She decided to test her other hand and realized she couldn't move it, it was being held. She looked to her left and saw someone sleeping on the edge of the bed she was in. Hardison. She squeezed his hand, disregarding the pain the pain that ran through her arm, shoulder and chest. He sat up quickly.

"Parker?" His eyes flew to her face, and when he saw that her eyes were open he smiled. "Hey girl! You're awake. We were all so worried about you. Sophie!" He called over his shoulder.

"What? What is it? Is she ok?" Sophie came in. Parker noticed that Sophie looked odd for Sophie. "Parker!" Hardison stood up and let Sophie take his chair. "How are you feeling?" Parker shook her head slightly. She was having trouble focusing on them. They looked very far away. Something else was itching In her mind. The feeling she was having, from the pain, it was too similar. She saw the sunlight, the street. The red bicycle. A grin on his face. And the screeching of tires. And the pain. The pain she was having now. She promised herself she'd never feel it again. And now here it was. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath in. She started counting doubles. 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256…

Hardison and Sophie shared a concerned look.

"Parker?" Sophie tried again. "What is it?" Parker kept her eyes shut tight.

"Should I go get the doctor?" Hardison whispered to Sophie. Parker opened her eyes.

"No." she said. Her voice felt gravelly. "No. I'm ok. I'm ok."

"You sure Parker?" Sophie asked. "I mean you were shot, you remember that right? It's ok if you need something stronger for the pain."

"I don't do drugs." Parker said as she tried sitting up. Hardison helped her and smiled.

"Yeah we know girl. But these are just pain meds. If you need them it's ok." Parker shook her head.

"So…what happened? I swear those guys on the roof came out of nowhere."

Hardison and Sophie shared another look.

"The job was a setup." Hardison said. Sophie swallowed . They were going to have to tell her sooner or later.

"It was meant to be a hit. On Katie Parker."


	12. Chapter 12

_Previously:_

"_The job was a setup." Hardison said. Sophie swallowed. They were going to have to tell her sooner or later._

"_It was meant to be a hit. On Katie Parker."_

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Parker froze the second the name came out of Sophie's mouth. There was silence for a moment. Parker was still staring wide-eyed at Sophie, still as a statue.

"Is that you? Are you Katie Parker?" Sophie tried. A muscle in Parker's face ticked and Hardison saw she was clenching her jaw. Sophie couldn't get a read on what Parker was feeling "Parker, you can tell us if…" she started out when Parker interrupted, anger in her voice.

"She's dead!" the thief yelled, clenching her fists. She stood before Hardison could stop her and was instantly pounding on the wall with both fists in a fury. "She's dead! Katie Parker is dead! She isn't alive!" Hardison finally managed to pull her away from the wall, but both of her fists were already bloody and he could tell she had torn some of her stitches. Parker collapsed in his arms, her shouts reduced to sobs. "She doesn't exist anymore…she's dead…she's dead…" She was crying into Hardison's shoulder as Sophie and the hacker exchanged glances.

"Do something!" Hardison mouthed silently to Sophie. Sophie nodded. She knelt down next to them, and put a hand on Parker's shoulder.

"Parker?" she said softly. "Parker can you hear me?" Parker's crying started to quiet as Hardison gently rocked her. She sniffed and tilted her face slightly to look at Sophie.

Sophie barely held it together looking at Parker. The girl was utterly broken. She could see it in the thief's eyes. They were tired, and dull, ringed with red and tears.

Parker was in so much pain. Everything was rushing. Her head, her shoulder, her eyes, her thoughts. It all hurt. It was like being in Times Square, she thought as she tried to concentrate on Sophie. A great place for thieves, but Parker had always found it too loud, too bright, too many colors, too many voices, too many smiles and frowns and crying and languages and families and business men. Too many, too much. Rushing rushing rushing. She managed to lock onto Sophie's voice.

"Make it stop." She pleaded to Sophie.

"Okay Parker, it's all alright, I just want you to focus on your breathing, ok? I know it must hurt, but just focus on one breath in and one breath out. One at a time. There you go. Good." Parker's death grip on Hardison's shirt loosened slightly as her breathing calmed. "Think you could move back to the bed, might be more comfortable?" Sophie offered but Parker shook her head violently.

"No. Safer here." Parker said. Sophie nodded, understanding that the bed for Parker felt too exposed right now. Too vulnerable. Better to be huddled in the corner with Hardison and Sophie than in the middle of a room.

"That's fine Parker, we'll just stay here." Sophie sat, and Hardison shifted into a sitting position with Parker in between the two of them. The three of them sat in silence a moment more, while Parker's breathing calmed even more.

"I wasn't supposed to tell."

Parker's strained and quiet voice broke the silence." They said not to ever tell my real name. They said Katie Parker was dead. That I was someone else. But I didn't want to be someone else. I still wanted to be a Parker…And then they left me. They said that they'd be back, but they never came back. They left me…"


	13. Chapter 13

"Why do I have to?" Parker complained, a guarded look on her face. After telling them that her parents had left, she had finally fallen asleep the night before and slept straight through the next two days. When she woke up she was calmer, and the pain was duller. She felt more in control. But then Sophie had brought up the idea of Parker maybe talking to a therapist.

"Look Parker, we're not going to make you, it was just a suggestion. I just think it might be a good experience, you might be able to work through some stuff."

"Shrinks don't help. They never helped before. Just gave me a bunch of tests and wrote things in my file." Parker contended, holding her bunny close to her chest.

"Well this would be different. I've got a friend, she's a psychologist, specializing in child psychology and art therapy and I've know for a fact that she IS different than all the rest. She will take the time to listen and understand what you're going through."

"Well, don't you already do that?"

"I try, but the fact is, I'm not an expert, I don't understand everything you're going through."

"I don't need a therapist. What I need is to talk to Jenna King, figured out who ordered this hit and go and find them to return the favor, but I'll actually finish it." She said with a dangerous glint in her eye. Sophie could tell she was itching to get up and be done with this bed rest nonsense. She went and sat on the edge of Parker's bed. Parker fluffed the tuft of fur on her bunny's head impatiently.

"I know this is hard for you Parker."

"No. You don't. You have no idea. I can't be hurt. Ok? I just can't. I'm not."

"But Parker you are. That's the plain and truth."

"Yeah well the truth sucks."

"I know." Sophie sighed. "Look, your team is here for you, we are. Just let us take care of you, Eliot and Nate are talking to Jenna, Hardison's doing whatever it is he does." Parker looked down.

"Has she said anything?"

"Not that I know." There was silence for a moment.

"Sophie?"

"Yes?"

"If I…If I wanted to talk? With your friend. You have to be here. I'll talk to her. But you have to be here."

"You don't want Hardison?" Parker shook her head.

"It's not that I don't want him there, I just…I don't want him to see…" Parker tried awkwardly to explain. Sophie understood. Parker didn't want to be that vulnerable around Hardison again. Hardison's role in Parker's life was vastly different than Sophie's. Sophie was a mother figure to Parker, even if it went unacknowledged. And mothers are much easier to cry in front of than romantic interests.

Parker didn't make eye contact.

"Will you be here?"

"Of course."

0o0o0o0o0o0ooo0o0o0ooo0o0o00

Jenna King stared at the wall. Ford was asking her the same question he'd been asking her for two days now. Who ordered the hit on Parker? She rolled her eyes.

"Look Mr. Ford. I'm not going to give up that information, so you might as well stop with this little game you're trying to play. And besides that, you're wrongfully imprisoning me, so you might want to let me go sooner rather than later, because for every hour you keep me here it adds to your jail sentence."

Nate smiled.

"Come on Jenna, you're insulting my intelligence. We both know you'd never turn me into the police because you might risk exposure to all the dirty little secrets you're keeping. So why don't you stop your game. If you tell us what you know, I'll promise to make sure my team doesn't kill you for what you did to Parker." Eliot gave a growl under his breath. He was leaning against the wall, watching Nate talk to Jenna. Nate paused. Hardison was telling him something in his ear bud. "You should tell us what we want to know Jenna. You should tell us for Trevor's sake." Jenna's eyes widened slightly.

"Don't you bring him into this."

"We wouldn't drag your son into the middle of this situation Jenna. That's not who we are. We're not like you, or the person you work for."

"Then why…" Nate cut her off.

"For his sake, you should tell us. I am offering you a one time out. Our guy will set you up with new identities, wipe your records. You can start fresh. One child's life was ruined by the person you work for. Don't make it two." Jenna just stared. How many times had she wished she could just take it all back. Leave. Get free of Ellsworth. How many times had she looked at Trevor and been ashamed of all she had done, felt undeserving to have a child. "We'll give you some time to think it over." Nate and Elliot left the room, locking the door behind them.


	14. Chapter 14

Sorry, sorry, sorry for the huge-however-many-month delay in between chapters! Hope this extra long chapter makes up for it!

wvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwvwv wvwvwvw

Parker stared at the wall in front of her. She was sitting on a couch in Sophie's apartment, with Sophie sitting to her left. Sophie had turned the second bedroom into an office of sorts, and that was where they sat now. Sophie's friend was due to arrive any minute and Parker was nervous. She didn't like talking to shrinks. Well, check that, she didn't necessarily like talking to anyone, but shrinks weren't at the top of the list of people she would talk to if she had to talk to someone.

"Are you sure that..."she started, but Sophie cut her off,

"Yes. I think she might really be able to help Parker. And even if she can't at least we tried, and there's no harm in that is there?" Parker fidgeted on the couch, but winced when she felt a pull at her stitches. She breathed out slowly and sat still. This was dumb.

There was a knock at the door out in the hall and Parker's eyes widened in fear. Sophie got up to answer it, but not before turning back to Parker, "No going out the window, alright?" Parker nodded, but internally didn't make any promises. Out in the hall she could hear Sophie greeting her friend, and then they were walking into the room. Parker immediately took stock. The woman who entered the room behind Sophie was petite, slightly shorter than Parker. She was casually dressed, jeans and a sweater, and carrying a travel mug of coffee in one hand and a messenger bag over her other shoulder. She had straight, shoulder length brown/auburn hair, freckles, and green eyes. She looked to be in her mid-thirties. She didn't seem extremely threatening and Parker's shoulders relaxed slightly. She smiled gently at Parker and extended her hand.

"Hi there, you must be Parker." Parker shook her hand warily and nodded, her face remaining blank. The woman took a seat on the chair across from the couch, and Sophie sat back down next to Parker. "My name is Erica. Sophie wasn't overly forthcoming with the details, but she said you could really use someone to talk to right now. Want to tell me what's going on?" Parker shook her head. Erica smiled at Parker's reaction. "Hey you know, I don't blame you, I probably wouldn't be too keen on spilling my guts to a complete stranger either." Erica casually took a sip from her mug. "Well, Sophie did tell me you like drawing." Parker didn't respond. "So I brought some paper and some pencils if you want to draw."

"Ok." Drawing seemed safe enough. Erica reached into her bag and pulled out some paper and a pencil for Parker and handed it to her. Parker winced as she reached for it.

"You alright?" Erica asked.

"Fine." Parker immediately focused on drawing, finding it to be a relief not to have to look anyone in the eyes.

"Is it ok if I ask you some questions Parker?" Parker shrugged.

"I guess."

"What happened to your hands? Looks like it hurts." she asked, referring to Parker's knuckles, which had scabbed over from the other night.

"I punched a wall."

"Any particular reason?"

"I was..." There was a moment of silence. Parker winced again as a twinge of pain shot through her shoulder. She raised and lowered it. "I was upset."

"I notice you seem to have a sore shoulder. What happened there, just from hitting the wall, or is it from something else?" Parker didn't look up from her paper.

"I got shot." she answered blankly. Erica's eyebrows raised and she looked at Sophie for confirmation. Sophie nodded.

"Wow. That must have been frightening. How long ago was that?" Her response was calm, but there was empathy in her voice as well.

"A few days ago."

"Geez, if I had gotten shot just a few days ago I'd probably still be moaning in a hospital bed somewhere trying to slurp down some jello. You seem to bounce back pretty quick huh?"

"I don't like hospitals."

"Me neither, the smell right?" Parker nodded. The smell always had unnerved her.

"Something like that."

"So what happened? Was it an accident?" Parker flipped her pencil to erase something but still didn't meet Erica's eyes.

"No accident. Somebody wants me dead."

"She narrowly escaped two attempts on her life." Sophie chimed in quietly. "The first was the initial shooting, and the second was a hit woman who came to the hospital to try and finish the job."

"So, what do these people want? I mean, why do they want you dead? Do you know?" Parker's hand shook slightly and she paused from drawing. She knew this part was coming. She knew she didn't have to say anything. She could just be silent, and she knew Sophie wouldn't say anything either. Sophie had promised to let Parker take the lead in what she did and didn't want Erica to know. She also knew rationally that Erica was bound by confidentiality, so anything Parker told her wouldn't go anywhere. But she still wasn't sure if she wanted to go into all of this again. Just telling Sophie and Hardison had been an ordeal. Her head was dizzy from all the conflicting emotions. She was scared. She didn't want to tell another person...But she was so tired. Tired of keeping it all inside. Tired of the things she hadn't even told Sophie and Hardison clawing away at her insides day in and day out. Because it never really left. Sophie put a comforting hand on Parker's back and Parker took a breath.

"My dad was going to expose a senator...Rhett Withers. His aide at the time was Derrick Ellsworth, and he was ordered to kill my family to make sure my dad didn't turn him in. My brother Charlie, we were playing in the street, riding bikes...and he..." Parker stopped. She looked up pleadingly, first to Sophie, then a glance at Erica. She didn't want to say this out loud. Tears were forming in Parker's eyes. She shook her head. She didn't want to say this. She looked at Erica again.

"He killed your brother." Erica said, filling in the blank for her, her eyes sad. Parker nodded. She was crying now.

"Hit us with a car." Parker's voice cracked."Charlie was so small, and I was laying in the street and he just looked so small, and there was so much blood, and he wasn't moving. And I knew he wasn't ok. And everything hurt. Then I was in the hospital, and I woke up, and Charlie was gone, and my parents were there and they told me that I had to go away for a little while. That I couldn't be Katie Parker because it wasn't safe. So they left me at a group home with a new name. And they said they'd be back but they never came back. They left me. He stole them all from me, and I was left in the system..." There was another hitch in Parker's voice and she stopped. She gripped the pencil tightly. She was trying to say the next part but it wouldn't come. "...and people hurt me."

"Her parents were trying to protect her, but Derrick got to them first. Now he's running for office, and somehow found Parker and decided he needed to finish the job." Sophie said, her voice just as unsteady as Parker's.

Erica looked affected, but feigned a small smile. "Well, I'd say all that is a recipe for a pretty bad week huh?" Parker knew she wasn't trying to belittle the situation, only make it seem more manageable for her. The thief managed a small laugh.

"Yeah. I thought if I just never thought about it all...and I've done ok. It never goes away, but I could make it hurt less. I can make it just this thing that happened, that I don't feel anything about, that I never tell anyone about. But now, its like...its like I can't breathe." Erica nodded. "Sophie said you can help, can you make it go away? Please, I just need it to go away."

"Look Parker, I'm not going to lie to you, not that I lie to people anyways, but I get the feeling you like it when people give it to you straight. You can try to bury it, but I don't think something like this ever really goes away, what happened happened, and I think deep down you know that already. I can't make it go away. No one can make the terrible thing that Ellsworth did go away. It happened, and it sucks so much I can't even begin to imagine...But Sophie and I can help you talk through it, figure out a plan, figure out maybe how come to terms with it." Parker looked away towards the window.

"Ok." she responded softly. "I'm just so angry and sad, and I don't like being those things, and I'm scared, because I don't want to be those things forever."

"I know."


	15. Chapter 15

Pretty please review if you've got some time, reviews make me happy!

LeverageLeverageLeverageLeve rageLeverageLeverageLeverage LeverageLeverageLeverage

Parker was sleeping in Sophie's guest room. Sophie stood in the doorway, checking in on her. After Erica had left she had sat numbly on the couch, staring ahead at the wall for a while, lost in recollections for nearly an hour.

The thief had been exhausted after spending a few hours talking with Sophie and Erica, and Sophie finally suggested that she stay for the evening rather than have the two of them trek across town to headquarters again. It was a testament as to just how tired Parker was that she agreed. So Sophie had lent her some pajamas and Parker had crawled into her guest bed with her rabbit. She fell asleep almost instantly.

As far as Sophie could tell, it had been good for Parker, helpful, finally getting to lessen the weight of so many things she had carried alone all of these years, but she also knew it couldn't have been easy for her either.

Sophie was tired too. This whole week had been an emotional roller coaster for the team. She was amazed that they were all still holding it together as well as they were. Sophie's hands tightened into fists when she thought about Derrick Ellsworth. He and Rhett Whithers had carved a path of destruction. They had ripped apart a family. (Lord knows what else they'd done to other innocent people.) They had in essence killed four people. Parker's father Ron, her mother Joanne, her brother Charlie, and Katie Parker, the girl she might have been.

Sophie had seen glimmers of that girl in the past few years. Sweet, caring, sensitive Parker, the one who really did care deep down, but all of the things that had happened often got in the way of her being able to show it, to express it properly.

For the first time this week though, Sophie did have hope, that maybe Parker would be ok somewhere in the end of all of this. Like Erica had said, nothing would ever change what had happened, but maybe Parker would finally start to heal. Sophie jumped slightly as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She hadn't even heard the door open, she had been so lost in her thoughts.

It was Nate.

"Hey." he whispered. Sophie leaned into him and they both looked at Parker. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully at last.

"Hey."

"How did it go? She ok?"

"I think she will be." Nate let out a faint smile.

"I hope so."

"How did things go with Jenna? Any progress?"

"Yeah, actually. She took the deal. Decided her son deserved a better life, a better mom. I think she's out of the game for good. She realized the toll was too heavy."

"So what do we have?"

"Not enough to get even yet. But more than we had before. I think its about time to pay a little visit to Ellsworth, what do you think?"

"I thought you'd never ask."


	16. Chapter 16

Derrick Ellsworth sat with his elbows on his desk, and his head resting in his hands. He was deep in thought. It had been three weeks. Three weeks since he'd seen her. The blonde girl. Katie Parker.

He had recognized her immediately. Her face had haunted him for the past twenty years.

He had been getting out of a car downtown when he saw her off on the other side of the street. Walking next to a lanky African American man. She was smiling and chattering on with him, and for a moment Derrick decided that he was crazy, that he was being paranoid. But then she'd started an odd sort of skip step next to her friend and Derrick Ellsworth had frozen on the spot. His veins filled with ice. It was her. He was sure.

_He remembered the day he had hit her and her brother quite clearly. He'd been down the street, parked behind some trees, watching the family, preparing himself for what he was about to do. He convinced himself that this had to be done. He told himself he'd given the children's father every chance to bury the lead he'd found. Ron Parker. Nosy Ron Parker poking around where he didn't belong. And Derrick's boss at the time could not have this lead published. It would ruin him. And Rhett Whithers had made it very clear to Derrick Ellsworth that if he went down, Derrick went down with him. Derrick would never have another job opportunity in his field again. He would forever be remembered as the one time assistant of the corrupt and troubled Rhett Whithers. So here Derrick sat. He watched the girl help her little brother onto the bike in the street. She did a strange skip-step alongside him, smiling and encouraging her brother as the boy pedaled and attempted to stay upright. Derrick closed his eyes, and gunned the car. _

The girl he'd been watching had turned suddenly towards his side of the street, as though she could feel his eyes on her. She caught him watching and her eyes widened slightly. She frowned and stopped, staring back. Her friend had continued walking and turned back now to face her.

"Parker?" Derrick flinched as the girl's name hit him through the noise from the street. "What's up babe?" The man reached his hand out and Katie Parker took it and clasped it tightly. He looked over at Derrick, who looked away quickly, pretending to be busy with his briefcase.

"Nothing...it's nothing." he heard the girl mutter to the man, and they turned and started to walk away.

"Jenna." Derrick said immediately. Jenna, his current assistant, was by his side in an instant. "I need you to have that couple over there followed. Discreetly as you can, I'm talking stealth, these are no regular citizens. I want to know where they go. This is top priority. You cannot lose them, understand? I'll fill you in later." Jenna's brow had crinkled, this was a slightly strange request, but these types of things weren't really surprising her anymore.

"Yes sir."

"Check in with me in an hour with what you've found."

Three weeks ago. That had been three weeks ago. Jenna had kept him informed up till two days ago. The hit men she'd hired to take out the Parker girl had failed. So Jenna told him she was personally going to fix things. And then all communication had ceased.

And so here he sat. At his desk. Head in his hands. Thinking. He realized of course, he was going to have to call Whithers if Jenna didn't report in soon. He had waited so far. He didn't want to worry his old boss just yet. The man scared the living daylights out of him. But if Jenna didn't report in, he and Whithers might possibly have a problem. There was a chance that Katie Parker could decide enough was enough. There was a chance that all of that pesky evidence that he and Whithers had so carefully buried all those years ago would come to light. And even more frightening, there was a chance that the current shooting could be traced back to him. There was a chance that this could ruin him.

A phone rang suddenly and he jumped. He was jumpier than usual these past few weeks. He looked at his regular cell phone and realized that it wasn't ringing. He dug through his briefcase and pulled out a cheap burner phone.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Ellsworth, this is King. It's done." Derrick breathed a sigh of relief. His free hand unclenched.

"What took so long?" he snapped.

"There were complications. Not to mention afterwords I needed a day to clear my head. I did after all kill a woman."

"I don't want excuses Jenna. Just get back here now."

"Well that's part of it sir. I need to lay low for a while. I'm afraid there may have been a witness, and until I'm absolutely sure there wasn't, I'm off grid."

"Well what am I supposed to do about these complications?"

"I'm sending an old friend your way. I've briefed her on the situation, and she's going to tie up all the loose ends and make sure this is completely over once and for all. She'll be there any minute. I'll contact you as soon as its safe again." The line hung up before Derrick could say another word. He threw the phone into his briefcase again with a scowl on his face.

His door opened suddenly, and a blonde woman with sharp features and piercing eyes stepped into his office trailed by his secretary.

"Mr. Ellsworth, this woman has no appointment."

"I'm expected." The woman's response was crisp. Derrick looked her over again and then waved his secretary off. The secretary pursed her lips and left the room in a huff. Derrick stood and held a hand out to the woman.

"So you're Jenna's friend I suppose?" The woman didn't shake his hand and instead sat down in the chair opposite him. Derrick was intimidated by her gaze as she answered.

"Yes. My name is Sarah Smith and I'm going to solve all your problems."


	17. Chapter 17

_Guess who's back after about a billion years?! Hey guys, here's the next chapter, I swear I'm going to try and conclude this story so it's just not on here, on a cliff hanger for eternity. And I've kind of got an ending in mind, so I just need to write it!_

**Ch.17**

Derrick uneasily sat down. The blonde picked a small piece of lint from her pantsuit as though everything in the world were mundane.

"So what do we do?" Derrick said, biting his lip. "Jenna thinks that..."

"I'm perfectly aware what Jenna thinks. Do you think I don't come into a job and not do my homework Mr. Ellsworth?" Derrick gulped. The woman's stare was ice.

"So what do we do?" Derrick asked again. His palms were sweating. He really didn't want to bring Withers in on this.

"We? We do nothing. I do something. Because you are clearly inept. And Jenna is too. Both of you are sloppy. I am the one that finishes things. No loose ends. No witnesses. I make sure everything is tied up in a nice little bow." Derrick nodded quickly.

"Ok. Good. Good."

"Now you are going to tell me everything. And yes, we do need to call your boss, Jenna has informed me that this links to him. I am ending this, but I need him here. I need to make sure any and all evidence you two idiots may have saved is destroyed." Ellsworth shook his head.

"Withers doesn't need to know." he said quickly. "We can fix this. He wouldn't have kept any evidence."

"Just like you didn't? Tell me, is that hood ornament on your shelf significant in any way?" Sarah crossed her arms. Derrick nearly passed out. It had sat on his shelves for years, reminding him... "Let me guess. It's a trophy. From the car you used to hit the Parker boy. It serves as what? A reminder that politics isn't always pretty? That sometimes you have to get your hands dirty to do what has to be done? That if you're good enough, you can get away with murder?" It was like Sarah was reading his mind. He shook his head and stood, pacing to his desk.

"No!" he lied. "It's just a hood ornament. My first car."

"Your first car was a 1978 Ford Fairmont. That hood ornament is from an 89 Lincoln Towncar." Sarah's eyes blinked lazily. Derrick was having trouble breathing. He went around to his desk.

"How...how...how did you?"

"I told you Mr. Ellsworth. I did my homework. Can I just say, that accident isn't hard to find. I'm surprised someone hasn't pointed the hood ornament out before. Sloppy."

Derrick was sufficiently freaked. He hadn't even told Jenna about Katie Parker's connection to his past. He'd just told her this woman he'd seen, Parker, needed to be taken care of. Jenna didn't even know! How could this woman possibly know! He fumbled under his desk and pulled a gun on Sarah. She blinked again.

"STOP. Just stop. Now you're going to tell me who you are!" his hands were shaking. Sarah sighed.

"I told you. My name is Sarah Smith, and if you really want to shoot me, go ahead, because if you're really _**that**_ incompetent, honestly you deserve to be taken down in a grisly public murder investigation. Mr. Ellsworth, I used to be a top analyst and field agent for several clandestine agencies. You really think I wouldn't be able to find these things out?" Derrick wiped his chin. His face was glowing with sweat.

ooooOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOooooooooOOOOOOoooooooOOOOOOo ooooOOOOOoooooo

Hardison sat at a computer screen, miles away. Elliot was sitting on the couch, watching. Nate, who was a few feet behind Hardison, took a step forward.

"How's she doing?" He leaned forward, looking at the monitor. It showed a panicky looking Ellsworth with a gun pointed at whoever was wearing the button cam.

"She about to get him to set it up." Hardison answered. Eliot shook his head.

"I think Ellsworth nearly pissed himself." he growled, a trace of laughter in his voice.

"Ey, but who helped with the hood ornament thing? Me. That was all me right there." Hardison chipped in as he typed something.

The door opened and Sophie entered, followed by Parker.

"I thought you were gonna rest today babe?" Hardison said as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Well she was, but then I caught her trying to go through the window, and thought it best to just bring her to headquarters." Sophie said, slightly weary. Trying to watch an on the mend Parker was more of a team sport. Eliot kindly pulled a chair up next to Hardison and let Parker sit.

"How's she doing?" she asked, eagerly scanning the screen.

"Oh you know Tara babe, she's doing her ice queen spy thing. She's got this."

ooooOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOooooooooOOOOOOoooooooOOOOOOo ooooOOOOOoooooo

Ellsworth had set down the gun, and then sunk into his chair.

"I just...I need this to all go away."

Tara Cole, aka Sarah Smith, gave him another calculated frigid stare.

"And I can make that happen. All you need to do is call your former boss. Get him here, and I will make everything disappear." Derrick nodded, dabbed his forehead with his tie, and then picked up the phone. The corner of Tara's mouth twitched upwards for a second in a hint of a smile. Nobody shot her friends and got away with it.


End file.
